Tonight’s Glory Last Man Standing PPV card is a bona fide supernova that is bound to pack more action than anything you’ve seen since…the last Glory card. The Middleweight tournament is going to be the show stealer, and boasts a variety of up and coming talent right on the precipice of stardom.
Wayne Barrett, the young gun with the freshest record, surprised kickboxing fans when he bested Joe Schilling last year. In tonight’s tournament, Wayne is set to take on the veteran, Bogdan Stoica in the first round. Despite the edge in experience that Stoica carries, Barrett is favored by many to beat him.
Bloody Elbow caught up with Wayne recently, who discussed the tournament, and his goal to become the tournament champion. Once again, we’ve been given a great photo gallery by photographer extraordinaire, Anthony Geathers. You can check out his additional work here.
I do watch quite a bit tape on my opponents. I like to know how they move, certain habits they may have; I just watch until I’m comfortable and can shadow box or imitate what I’ve been watching. I watch until I can visualize them in front of me. If they have tattoos on their left arm, like my first opponent did, I just imagine that tattoo and know that it’s a left coming my way. I want the visualization to be so detailed, I can read them and it’s like I’ve been in front of them before.
Bogdan is coming off of a loss and his brother recently got knocked out in the first round of his fight, as well. This is a guy that’s got something to prove. I*’m sure there’s a lot of pressure on him to bring back the Stoica name. I expect him to be tough and bring his A game. I think he’ll be trying to move forward and look for the knockout at all costs. That’s what they need right now.
Unfortunately, he’s got the wrong guy in front of him right now. I’m not going to allow him to do that. I’ve got all the tools and I’ve done my homework. I’m prepared, I know what my job is, and I know who I am. I’m not that guy; I’m not the guy he’s going to make a statement on. I think the most shocking thing for him will be that he’s not going to get that favoritism that he was getting in Superkombat.
Like most kickboxers, movie star and martial arts legend, Jean Claude VanDamme was a big influence on him in his youth and provided some inspiration for him to pick up martial arts. His other great influence was boxer, Roy Jones, Jr.
If I had to really give credit for my inspiration in fighting professionally, it would have to be Roy Jones, Jr. I watched countless hours of his fights. Yeah, definitely Roy Jones and watching VanDamme movies. He might not be a fighter, but he knows movement and if you look at footage of Andre Dida, you can see JCVD in his corner giving him advice. He knows the moves. You have to respect the dedication that it takes to learn the moves and become a physical specimen that can pull them off with such a degree of flexibility. He’s the man.
I’d love to have JCVD in my corner. For me it represents that if you dream it, and you work for it, you can be it. I’d almost feel like he was passing on the torch to me. If he were to take the time out to do that, to think that I was good enough to lend that kind of guidance to, oh my…I’d probably shed a tear. That would be such an amazing seal of approval, a testament to all my hard work.
You can follow Wayne via his Twitter account, @1WayneBarrett
About the author
